Bapcor Limited (BAP):
The chief executive of the $1.6 billion ASX-listed car parts group Bapcor says the company is largely immune from any disruption by online giant Amazon, but it is considering joining the Amazon Marketplace in Australia to enhance its own sales. Bapcor operates Burson Auto Parts, Autobarn and Autopro along with other businesses, and chief executive Darryl Abotomey said 80 per cent of its sales were to trade and wholesale customers such as mechanics workshops, a segment Amazon didn’t compete in. But Mr Abotomey said the company would carefully consider whether it would be beneficial to become a supplier on the third-party platform Amazon Marketplace in Australia to give itself another avenue to end customers. ‘‘It’s one of the things that we are considering,’’ Mr Abotomey told The Australian Financial Review.
BHP Billiton Ltd (BHP)：
BHP Billiton has hit a two-year high off the back of a surge in the iron ore price. In early trade, BHP was trading above $28 for the first time in over two years, while Rio Tinto was trading at a six-year high, above $74 a share. It comes as Chinese steel futures dragged the price higher overnight. The spot price for Australia’s biggest commodity spiked 5.6 per cent to $US62.70 a tonne, according to The Steel Index.“Worsening weather conditions in northern China have resulted in more cities implementing steel mill closures,” ANZ senior economist Jo Masters said. “Iron ore now appears to be stabilising after falling during September, though is well below the recent peak of $80 in mid-August,” said National Australia Bank economist Tapas Strickland.“Driving iron ore has been steel prices which have rallied as Chinese mills start to cut back production to curb pollution levels in the winter — this puts more emphasis on higher quality iron ore.”
Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (HVN):
Australian Shareholders Association monitor Allan Goldin must have a thick skin. At Harvey Norman’s annual meeting last year, the 68-year-old former marketing executive was accused by chairman Gerry Harvey of being a ‘‘stooge’’ of short sellers out to destroy the company and was told in no uncertain terms to leave. ‘‘God you’re a pain in the arse,’’ Mr Harvey said. Undeterred, Mr Goldin is bracing for another showdown at Harvey Norman’s AGM next week, when the ASA plans to vote proxies against the reelection of Mr Harvey, non-executive director Graham Paton and finance director Chris Mentis because of the lack of board independence. The ASA also plans to vote against Harvey Norman’s remuneration report and ask some pointed questions about the board’s decision to cut the dividend payout despite record profits, seek details about loans of $535 million to franchisees, and query investments in non-core businesses such as dairy farms and mining camps.
Moelis Australia (MOE):
Moelis Australia has taken a minority stake in secure cloud platform provider Vault Systems, which has also snared former high-profile bureaucrat Jane Halton as its chair. The ASX-listed financial services group made the investment via its newly created Moelis Australia Government Infrastructure Fund, which is backed by high net worth individuals. The fund will invest in the expansion of Australian government secure cloud services through Vault,which was founded by Rupert Taylor-Price in 2012. Vault Systems is the physical part of the cloud. It does not own the underlying property of its data centres, but owns and operates everything inside a centre. It charges a fee based on consumption – similar to a monthly electricity bill – to tech partners including Fujitsu, Leidos, Unisys, Accenture, and IBM, which are delivering services to government.
Orica Limited (ORI):
Orica chief executive Alberto Calderon has urged investors to look beyond the next year to improved conditions in 2019 and 2020, afterthe explosives manufacturer was punished by the market for a softer than expected profit result and for warning that tough conditions would continue into the new year. Investors wiped almost 10 per cent, or $800 million, off the value of Orica shares on Monday after the company reported a $386.2 million underlying profit, which was about 3 per cent below analyst expectations and 1 per cent below last year’s result. Despite full-year dividends being 4 per cent higher than last year’s payout at 51.5¢, that too was below analysts expectations, with Deutsche expecting 55.5¢ a share. But seemingly of greater concern for investors was Orica’s prediction for virtually no growth in production of ammonium nitrate (a key ingredient in industrial explosives) over the next 12 months, and continued headwinds from the resetting of expired contracts.
Suncorp Group Ltd (SUN):
Suncorp says it will not appeal against the New Zealand Commerce Commission’s decision to block its takeover of insurer Tower after the New Zealand company terminated the deal. Suncorp had made a $NZ236.1 million ($A212.5 million) bid for Tower, which was blocked by the regulator over competition concerns. The Australian financial services business said its subsidiary Vero had received notice of termination from Tower and Suncorp would now focus on maximising the value of its 19.9 per cent Tower shareholding.
Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC):
Investors are worried Westpac is not cutting costs as aggressively as it should in the face of concerns about revenue growth, with the group’s shares sold off after it delivered a 3 per cent rise in full-year cash profit to $8.1 billion on Monday. The result was supported by an ultralow charge for bad debts, but falling non-interest income – in part due to a remediation program that cost $169 million and shaved 1.5 per cent off cash profit – saw the numbers miss expectations. This sent the stock down 2.2 per cent to close at $32.55, heavier than the falls in the other major banks, which were down about 0.5 per cent. With banking analysts homing in on costs and productivity initiatives following NAB’s announcement last week of big job cuts, Westpac said it had found productivity savings of $262 million over the year.
Woodside Petroleum (WPL):
An 8 per cent jump in Woodside Petroleum’s share price in the space of a week has revived discussion on whether Royal Dutch Shell may take the opportunity to finally head for the door. Woodside’s shares are up 14 per cent since September lows, helped by an ongoing recovery in oil prices, stirring talk as to whether the energy major is set to follow through on its commitment to complete its exit from the local player’s share register. And with November already upon us, Shell’s window to move will be open for only another couple of weeks before holiday season sinks the chances of any large capital markets trades. The talk may be premature given the sheer size of Shell’s organisation points to relatively slow decision making. But the oil giant has made it clear on several occasions that it does not see itself as a long-term investor in Woodside and the recent stock gains have meant that a potential $3.6 billion block trade is a talking point in a quiet week.
(Source: AIMS)
The chief executive of the $1.6 billion ASX-listed car parts group Bapcor says the company is largely immune from any disruption by online giant Amazon, but it is considering joining the Amazon Marketplace in Australia to enhance its own sales. Bapcor operates Burson Auto Parts, Autobarn and Autopro along with other businesses, and chief executive Darryl Abotomey said 80 per cent of its sales were to trade and wholesale customers such as mechanics workshops, a segment Amazon didn’t compete in. But Mr Abotomey said the company would carefully consider whether it would be beneficial to become a supplier on the third-party platform Amazon Marketplace in Australia to give itself another avenue to end customers. ‘‘It’s one of the things that we are considering,’’ Mr Abotomey told The Australian Financial Review.
BHP Billiton Ltd (BHP)：
BHP Billiton has hit a two-year high off the back of a surge in the iron ore price. In early trade, BHP was trading above $28 for the first time in over two years, while Rio Tinto was trading at a six-year high, above $74 a share. It comes as Chinese steel futures dragged the price higher overnight. The spot price for Australia’s biggest commodity spiked 5.6 per cent to $US62.70 a tonne, according to The Steel Index.“Worsening weather conditions in northern China have resulted in more cities implementing steel mill closures,” ANZ senior economist Jo Masters said. “Iron ore now appears to be stabilising after falling during September, though is well below the recent peak of $80 in mid-August,” said National Australia Bank economist Tapas Strickland.“Driving iron ore has been steel prices which have rallied as Chinese mills start to cut back production to curb pollution levels in the winter — this puts more emphasis on higher quality iron ore.”
Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (HVN):
Australian Shareholders Association monitor Allan Goldin must have a thick skin. At Harvey Norman’s annual meeting last year, the 68-year-old former marketing executive was accused by chairman Gerry Harvey of being a ‘‘stooge’’ of short sellers out to destroy the company and was told in no uncertain terms to leave. ‘‘God you’re a pain in the arse,’’ Mr Harvey said. Undeterred, Mr Goldin is bracing for another showdown at Harvey Norman’s AGM next week, when the ASA plans to vote proxies against the reelection of Mr Harvey, non-executive director Graham Paton and finance director Chris Mentis because of the lack of board independence. The ASA also plans to vote against Harvey Norman’s remuneration report and ask some pointed questions about the board’s decision to cut the dividend payout despite record profits, seek details about loans of $535 million to franchisees, and query investments in non-core businesses such as dairy farms and mining camps.
Moelis Australia (MOE):
Moelis Australia has taken a minority stake in secure cloud platform provider Vault Systems, which has also snared former high-profile bureaucrat Jane Halton as its chair. The ASX-listed financial services group made the investment via its newly created Moelis Australia Government Infrastructure Fund, which is backed by high net worth individuals. The fund will invest in the expansion of Australian government secure cloud services through Vault,which was founded by Rupert Taylor-Price in 2012. Vault Systems is the physical part of the cloud. It does not own the underlying property of its data centres, but owns and operates everything inside a centre. It charges a fee based on consumption – similar to a monthly electricity bill – to tech partners including Fujitsu, Leidos, Unisys, Accenture, and IBM, which are delivering services to government.
Orica Limited (ORI):
Orica chief executive Alberto Calderon has urged investors to look beyond the next year to improved conditions in 2019 and 2020, afterthe explosives manufacturer was punished by the market for a softer than expected profit result and for warning that tough conditions would continue into the new year. Investors wiped almost 10 per cent, or $800 million, off the value of Orica shares on Monday after the company reported a $386.2 million underlying profit, which was about 3 per cent below analyst expectations and 1 per cent below last year’s result. Despite full-year dividends being 4 per cent higher than last year’s payout at 51.5¢, that too was below analysts expectations, with Deutsche expecting 55.5¢ a share. But seemingly of greater concern for investors was Orica’s prediction for virtually no growth in production of ammonium nitrate (a key ingredient in industrial explosives) over the next 12 months, and continued headwinds from the resetting of expired contracts.
Suncorp Group Ltd (SUN):
Suncorp says it will not appeal against the New Zealand Commerce Commission’s decision to block its takeover of insurer Tower after the New Zealand company terminated the deal. Suncorp had made a $NZ236.1 million ($A212.5 million) bid for Tower, which was blocked by the regulator over competition concerns. The Australian financial services business said its subsidiary Vero had received notice of termination from Tower and Suncorp would now focus on maximising the value of its 19.9 per cent Tower shareholding.
Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC):
Investors are worried Westpac is not cutting costs as aggressively as it should in the face of concerns about revenue growth, with the group’s shares sold off after it delivered a 3 per cent rise in full-year cash profit to $8.1 billion on Monday. The result was supported by an ultralow charge for bad debts, but falling non-interest income – in part due to a remediation program that cost $169 million and shaved 1.5 per cent off cash profit – saw the numbers miss expectations. This sent the stock down 2.2 per cent to close at $32.55, heavier than the falls in the other major banks, which were down about 0.5 per cent. With banking analysts homing in on costs and productivity initiatives following NAB’s announcement last week of big job cuts, Westpac said it had found productivity savings of $262 million over the year.
Woodside Petroleum (WPL):
An 8 per cent jump in Woodside Petroleum’s share price in the space of a week has revived discussion on whether Royal Dutch Shell may take the opportunity to finally head for the door. Woodside’s shares are up 14 per cent since September lows, helped by an ongoing recovery in oil prices, stirring talk as to whether the energy major is set to follow through on its commitment to complete its exit from the local player’s share register. And with November already upon us, Shell’s window to move will be open for only another couple of weeks before holiday season sinks the chances of any large capital markets trades. The talk may be premature given the sheer size of Shell’s organisation points to relatively slow decision making. But the oil giant has made it clear on several occasions that it does not see itself as a long-term investor in Woodside and the recent stock gains have meant that a potential $3.6 billion block trade is a talking point in a quiet week.
(Source: AIMS)
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